Miami, FL
US court gives $153 million to Miami man jailed in Venezuela
MIAMI – A federal choose in Miami has awarded $153 million in damages to the household of an exiled Venezuelan lawyer lured again residence by his father’s kidnapping solely to finish up imprisoned for 2 years on trumped-up expenses of working as a “monetary terrorist” undermining President Nicolás Maduro’s rule.
Carlos Marrón introduced the lawsuit after fleeing Venezuela and describing to The Related Press the beatings, asphyxiation and different abuse he claims to have suffered whereas detained.
His ordeal drew harsh rebuke from the United Nations Human Rights Council, which decided he had been arbitrarily detained for allegedly working an internet site that printed the black-market trade fee of Venezuela’s erratic bolivar for U.S. {dollars}, one thing the socialist authorities thought-about against the law.
The ruling issued Monday is the second of its type in latest months focusing on Maduro’s authorities over its alleged ties to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia below a little bit used federal regulation that permits American victims of international terror teams to grab the belongings of their victimizers. In September, one other federal choose awarded $73 million to the household of a distinguished opponent of Maduro who died after falling from the tenth flooring of a constructing belonging to Venezuela’s intelligence companies in what the U.S. court docket likened to “a homicide for rent.”
As within the earlier case, Marrón in his lawsuit accused Maduro of heading the “Cartel of the Suns,” a purported drug-smuggling ring involving high Venezuelan officers and guerrillas from the FARC – a delegated terrorist group below U.S. regulation – that allegedly sends 200 metric tons of cocaine from Venezuela into the U.S. every year.
Decide Federico Moreno issued a default judgment towards Maduro and 5 different insiders – together with his Legal professional Basic Tarek William Saab and former Supreme Courtroom President Maikel Moreno – for failing to reply to the lawsuit. In it, Moreno wrote that the officers had been responsible for Marrón’s illegal imprisonment as a result of they had been making an attempt to close down his Florida enterprise, viewing it as a menace to a “felony group” based mostly on narcotics trafficking, acts of terror and human rights violations.
“Defendants trade medicine for laborious forex. The laborious forex permits the Defendants to remain in energy in Venezuela. Defendants leverage that energy to kidnap and torture dissidents” like Marrón, Moreno wrote in a 13-page ruling benefitting Marrón and his household.
Marrón, 45, was arrested by the Venezuelan navy counterintelligence unit in April 2018 and not using a warrant upon his arrival to Caracas’ worldwide airport. He had been compelled to journey to Venezuela from Miami – his residence for the earlier decade – upon studying that his father had been detained by state officers.
It was an elaborate entice in search of to punish Marrón for an internet site area, dolarpro.com, he’d purchased years earlier as a enterprise prospect however says he by no means developed. Beneath a buddy’s stewardship, the web site started publishing information and data on the nation’s black-market trade fee, which assorted vastly from official figures.
Legal professional Basic Saab likened Marrón’s actions to “mass homicide.”
“Maybe he is out to destroy greater than 30 million Venezuelans,” Saab mentioned in a nationally televised tackle saying his arrest.
A 2010 presidential decree made it unlawful to publish something however the official trade fee, and authorities commonly accused “speculators” of spreading false info, stoking inflation and fueling a collapse of the bolivar as an act of financial sabotage towards Maduro.
However critics say the large disparity between the 2 charges is a automobile for graft by authorities insiders.
Marron declined to touch upon the judgment and there was no fast response from Maduro’s authorities.
Inter Miami CF defender Noah Allen insists the team enters the MLS Cup playoffs with high expectations, emphasizing that anything less than lifting the trophy would be considered a failure.
“Yeah [it’s a failure for if Inter Miami don’t win MLS Cup]. We have high expectations for ourselves,” Allen said.
“I feel like we have the highest standard in ourselves and we want to win every trophy possible. Yeah, we want to win.”
Inter Miami concluded the MLS regular season in third place on the Eastern Conference table with 65 points, drawing Nashville SC for the best-of-three Round One playoff series.
The Herons will host Nashville on Friday night at Chase Stadium for the first match, and secured home-field advantage for the potential third game due to table placement.
“I’m very excited about the playoffs. I have confidence in my team; we have the best of all time, and well, we’re really excited,” Rodrigo De Paul said.
“But football doesn’t always win the best or the one who deserves it most. We have to keep that percentage of luck as low as possible, and whatever work it takes, give everything we have to do our best so that the playoffs go our way.”
Inter Miami are familiar with their Round One opponent, concluding the regular-season campaign with a 5-2 triumph over Nashville on Oct. 18. Now the team will prepare for at least two more games against the same rival.
Lionel Messi, who scored three goals against Nashville in the final game to secure the 2025 MLS Golden Boot, failed to train in the first 15 minutes of the session on Oct. 21. The reason behind his absence is unknown.
Inter Miami were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in 2024 which has motivated them for this year’s post-season.
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“I feel like we have a good relationship between each other and I feel like we play good football with the ball. We keep a lot of possession and I just feel like we have to have that confidence that we are the best team in the league,” Allen said.
“Yeah, it’s not a sense of urgency. There’s not a panic or anything. It’s more of a motivation, right? And especially the guys that were here last year, I think everyone remembers it.
“And I think it’s been a message around the whole offense that everyone can understand is that it’s difficult, right?
“It’s not traditional, some players may agree, some players may not agree, but we have to do it. We have to win two games.”
After a preseason in which many of the Miami Heat guards missed time, the team is being hit now in a more vulnerable place on the roster.
It was expected that Tyler Herro and Kasparas Jakucionis wouldn’t be available for the season opener in Orlando on October 22, and neither practiced Monday. Also out, however, was someone who has been available as much as any NBA player the past couple of weeks:
Kel’el Ware.
The second-year player coming off an All-Rookie season is being bothered by neck spasms, with coach Erik Spoelstra not giving much insight about when Ware will be back. This comes after Ware led all NBA players in preseason points, and several other categories, as the Heat pushed him to play frequently and passionately.
While Ware isn’t expected to start — Nikola Jovic likely gets that nod next to Bam Adebayo — he is slotted for 25-plus minutes coming off the bench, especially since Miami is so short on bigs. The Heat just cut Precious Achiuwa, leaving only Keshad Johnson (an oversized wing who has been inconsistent) and two-way-contract rookie Vlad Goldin.
Playing Goldin against an Orlando Magic team with plenty of size — and skilled size such as Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner — is not ideal. Wendell Carter Jr. is likely the starting center for the Magic, and Goga Bitadze had a strong training camp.
The Heat are scheduled to practice again Tuesday before heading up the state.
It would be a welcome sight to see Ware back on the court.
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In the wake of the loss to Louisville, the Miami Hurricanes have dropped in both the AP and USA Coaches polls, but not all is lost.
The Hurricanes have dropped from the No. 2 team in the country to No. 9. There is still some value with this team, and now they control their destiny once again, similar to last week.
The issue with this loss is now they no longer control the chaos that is the ACC standings. The Hurricanes are the second-highest-ranked team in the ACC, behind No. 7 Georgia Tech, following No. 16 Virginia, and now No. 19 Louisville.
The Canes’ loss hurt, but the voters still see that they are a. top 10 team in the country. The conflicting schedule does not help with how everything went as well. A game against Florida, then a bye, then Florida State, then another bye, and finally, the Hurricanes have the rest of the season after the Cardinals.
The Hurricanes will face off against Stanford. A game they should dominate, but who knows how this team will react after such a heartbreaking loss.
(Ranking, team, first-place votes, points)
- Ohio State (60), 1,643
- Indiana (6), 1,583
- Texas A&M, 1,499
- Alabama, 1,463
- Georgia, 1,360
- Oregon, 1,317
- Georgia Tech, 1,143
- Ole Miss, 1,119
- Miami, 1,073
- Vanderbilt, 1,031
- BYU, 975
- Notre Dame, 964
- Oklahoma, 882
- Texas Tech, 782
- Missouri, 748
- Virginia, 624
- Tennessee, 527
- South Florida, 501
- Louisville, 458
- LSU, 388
- Cincinnati, 350
- Texas, 318
- Illinois, 168
- Arizona State, 155
- Michigan, 123
Receiving votes: USC 97; Utah 40; Tulane 37; Houston 34; Navy 28; San Diego State 7; James Madison 6; Boise State 4; TCU 2; Minnesota 1
(Ranking, team, first-place votes)
1. Ohio State (65), 1,625
2. Indiana, 1,549
3. Texas A&M, 1,470
4. Alabama, 1,408
5. Georgia, 1,358
6. Oregon, 1, 302
7. Georgia Tech, 1,153
8. Ole Miss, 1,110
9. Miami (Fla.), 1,027
10. BYU, 990
11. Oklahoma, 960
12. Vanderbilt, 902
13. Notre Dame, 872
14. Missouri, 778
15. Texas Tech, 738
16. Virginia, 528
17. Tennessee, 523
18. Texas, 483
19. LSU, 451
20. USF, 393
21. Cincinnati, 355
22. Louisville, 336
23. Illinois, 192
24. Michigan, 175
25. Arizona State, 144
Receiving votes: Navy 59; USC 52; Utah 51; Tulane 45; Houston 34; Iowa 17; James Madison 9; Iowa State 9; San Diego State 4; North Texas 4; Washington 3; UNLV 3; SMU 3; Memphis 3; TCU 2; Pittsburgh 2; Boise State 2; Northwestern 1
Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University and is the site lead for the Miami Hurricanes on SI. He can be reached at Twitter @Justice_News5.
Follow all social media platforms to stay up to date with everything Miami Hurricanes- Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, and BlueSky.
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